This is the official blog of ex-Sgt Ellie Bloggs. I was a real live police constable then sergeant for twelve years, on the real live front line of England. I'm now a real live non-police person. All the facts I recount are true, and are not secrets. If they don't want me blogging about it, they shouldn't do it. PS If you don't pay tax, you don't (or didn't) pay my salary.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Bringing out the MAN in woMAN.

It appears I raised a few hackles by posting on rape recently. A reader has brought to my attention that there are liars in this world. Mostly women, it seems. There must be so many innocent men languishing in our jails, convicted by a court system that brutally sends people down on the sketchiest of evidence.This has made me start thinking about the way we investigate other offences. When I attend a burglary, I generally assume that the victim who has had their house broken into and their DVDs, cash and jewellery stolen, did not give permission for this to happen. I put it into the statement as a matter of course and it is rarely challenged. Likewise with criminal damage, theft, robbery etc. There are occasions in which the person did give permission, or the damage was to the offender's own property, or an item was borrowed and never returned, for example, but by and large courts do not challenge the victim stating, "I did not give anyone permission to take/damage it".This is a nonsense. We should be incredulous of these "victims". I would like to see more people put through the wringer in court and made to give irrefutable proof that they had not given implicit permission for a guy they had met once to break into their house and nick their handbag. As police officers, it is our job to assume first that everyone we speak to is lying, until proved otherwise. That way we won't waste time preserving scenes and seizing clothing for jobs that aren't going anywhere, and can spend more time giving out fixed penalty notices and speeding tickets.

While on the general subject of hysterical, lying females, here is a reproduction of a notice on Surrey Police website:It can be easy to miss, but men can help by taking the issue of women's safety seriously in their everyday lives. By keeping these few points in mind, men might be removing any unnecessary worry or sense of vulnerability.

Walking behind a woman on her own can cause anxiety that needn't be there. Reassure her by crossing the road.

Likewise, don't sit too close to a woman on a bus or train if you can help it.

If you're thinking of chatting to a woman at, say, a lonely bus stop, remember she won't know you mean no harm.

Simple actions like staring, whistling, passing and comments can be very threatening to a woman, especially if you are with a group of other men.

Help female friends or family by giving them a lift or walking them home if you can. Make sure they are safely indoors before you leave.

Aggressive tones can be scary. If you find yourself getting angry or frustrated, find the time to cool down before continuing a discussion.

Accept that "no" to a sexual advance means exactly that.

Glad they cleared all that up. Also on Surrey's website is the following: Stop H8 Crime B4 its 2 L8Well at least they aren't dumbing down or anything.

10 Comments:

When I ask "I assume you didnt give permission for the offender to do such and such" I am often met with a vacant look to suggest I have people turn around and say "actually, now that you say that, I did give them permission"

I use exactly these ideas in preparing juries for rape trials, pc. And here's another, for joe90 and his fellow thinkers.

Go up to a group of respectable random strangers and tell them allll about your last sexual encounter. Dimensions, what words were said, all that. Then get called a liar and cross examined for an hour.

I can't imagine a woman going through the ordeal of a rape prosecution for any reason other than having been raped. I'm sure it's happened, but I promise you that for every false accuser there are hundreds of victims who just take it and shut up.

And where are these false accusers, anyway? There should be hundreds of documented cases. Dozens, anyway. Yet the phenomenon seems so rare that it makes the front pages when it occurs.